Mac keeps getting stuck while emptying the trash?

[kat.hayes]

I'm running 10.7.3 on my Macbook Pro and I have two empty folders in the trash. I tried emptying the trash and the progress bar makes it about 25% of the way and it stops. I had to cut the power to the Mac and restart it, and I just tried to empty the trash and it is again freezing/stopping around the same spot. I'm able to do other things, though I can not restart the Mac because it is in the middle of emptying the trash.

What can I do?

Thanks.

 

[benwiggy]

First of all, try not to just cut the power to your Mac. You should be able to ForceQuit the Finder, using the Force Quit menu item in the Apple menu. You can usually get to that menu in any app that is still working.

First thing to check is whether the disk is ok. Run Disk Utility to Verify the Disk. (NB: Disk, not permissions.) If things need fixing, boot to the Recovery PArtition and run Disk Utility from there.

Next, search the web for "OS X files in Trash won't delete" or similar. You will find many alternative ways to remove files that might bring better results than using the Finder's Empty Trash. These will probably involve using some Terminal commands, so be careful and make sure you have a backup.

 

[kat.hayes]

How do you boot to the Recovery Partition?

Thanks.

 

[benwiggy]

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718